By BERRY CRAIG
AFT Local 1360
House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins says the GOP majority "had to change the House rules to ram through a charter school bill and appease their special interest donors from outside the Commonwealth."
Added the outgoing Louisville Democrat in a fund raising email for her caucus: “But in order to pass the law, Republicans had to move House Bill 9 into a totally different committee and swap out members of their own caucus on the new committee just to get the bill to the House Floor.”
Jenkins, who is not running for a 15th term, aimed another parting shot at the House Republicans: “That's right. If Republicans hadn't shaken up the committee the legislation would have failed because even some Republicans believe that we have to protect Kentucky's public education system.
“It's clear that Kentuckians want to fund our public education system. And we don't want taxpayer dollars used to fund private charter schools.”
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“Jenkins’ Shively-area district was redrawn to include a majority of racial minority voters this year," Ryland Barton wrote on the WPFL website. "Jenkins, who is white, said in a statement she wants to make room for someone else to run,”
In her statement, Jenkins also said, “I have long advocated for a General Assembly that looks like Kentucky, so when minorities became the majority population in the newly redrawn 44th House District, I did not want to be a barrier to a person of color joining the Kentucky House of Representatives. That’s why I withdrew my candidacy…” Jenkins explained.
Shively's Democratic Mayor, Beverly Chester-Burton, who is African American, tossed her hat in the ring for Jenkins’ seat. “Currently there are only seven Black lawmakers sitting in the Kentucky legislature’s 138 seats,” Barton also wrote.